    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book III)]
    [October 18, 2004]
    [Pages 2575-2576]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on Signing the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations
    Act, 2005
    October 18, 2004

        Today, I have signed into law H.R. 4567, the ``Department of
    Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2005.'' The Act provides funds to
    protect the United States against terrorism and to carry out other
    departmental functions.

        The executive branch shall construe as calling solely for
    notification the provisions of the Act that purport to require
    congressional committee approval for the execution of a law. Any other
    construction would be inconsistent with the principles enunciated by the
    Supreme Court of the United States in INS v. Chadha. Such provisions
    include the purported approval requirements in the appropriations for
    expenses for the development of the United States Visitor and Immigrant
    Status Indicator Technology project; customs and border protection
    automated systems; immigration and customs enforcement automated
    systems; operations, maintenance, and procurement of marine vessels,
    aircraft, and other related equipment of the air and marine program;
    United States Secret Service protective travel; and in sections 504
    relating to unobligated balances, 508 relating to training facilities,
    and 510 relating to prospectuses.
        Under the heading ``Customs and Border Protection,'' the Act
    purports to require the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection to
    relocate its tactical checkpoints in the Tucson, Arizona, sector at
    least an average of once every 14 days. Decisions on deployment and
    redeployment of law enforcement officers in the execution of the laws
    are a part of the executive power vested in the President by Article II
    of the Constitution. Accordingly, the executive branch shall construe
    the relocation provision as advisory rather than mandatory.
        The executive branch shall construe the provision relating to the
    Coast Guard under the heading ``Acquisition, Construction, and
    Improvements'' that purports to require inclusion of an amount for a
    particular purpose in the President's proposed budget for fiscal year
    2006, in a manner consistent with the President's exclusive authority
    under the Constitution to recommend for the consideration of the
    Congress such

    [[Page 2576]]

    measures, including proposals for appropriations, as the President
    judges necessary and expedient.
        To the extent that provisions of the Act, including section 514,
    call for submission of legislative recommendations to the Congress, the
    executive branch shall construe such provisions in a manner consistent
    with the President's constitutional authority to supervise the unitary
    executive branch and to recommend for the consideration of the Congress
    such measures as the President shall judge necessary and expedient.
    Accordingly, the affected departments and agencies shall ensure that any
    reports or recommendations submitted to the Congress are subjected to
    appropriate executive branch review.
        Section 518 of the Act purports to direct the conduct of security
    and suitability investigations. To the extent that section 518 relates
    to access to classified national security information, the executive
    branch shall construe this provision in a manner consistent with the
    President's exclusive constitutional authority, as head of the unitary
    executive branch and as Commander in Chief, to classify and control
    access to national security information and to determine whether an
    individual is suitable to occupy a position in the executive branch with
    access to such information.
        To the extent that section 522 of the Act purports to allow an agent
    of the legislative branch to prevent implementation of the law unless
    the legislative agent reports to the Congress that the executive branch
    has met certain conditions, the executive branch shall construe such
    section as advisory, in accordance with the constitutional principles
    enumerated in the Chadha decision.
        As is consistent with the text of the Act, the executive branch
    shall construe section 528 as relating to the integrity and supervision
    of the United States Secret Service only within the Department of
    Homeland Security. The executive branch therefore shall construe section
    528 neither to affect the functions and supervision of personnel of the
    Secret Service assigned or detailed to duty outside the Department of
    Homeland Security nor to limit participation by the Secret Service in
    cooperative command and other arrangements with other governmental
    entities for the conduct of particular operations.

                                                              George W. Bush

     The White House,

     October 18, 2004.

    Note: H.R. 4567, approved October 18, was assigned Public Law No. 108-
    334.